


Goodbye Winter

by kimseungmine



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Day6 Jae - Freeform, F/M, Goodbye Winter, Jae - Freeform, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:40:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25133278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimseungmine/pseuds/kimseungmine
Summary: 너무 따뜻했던 꿈 한겨울의 그날"That day was like a warm dream in the middle of winter"- Day6’s Goodbye Winter
Kudos: 1





	Goodbye Winter

Just like that, 4 weeks had gone by so fast. 

4 weeks ago, she was nothing but a lost girl running away from the choices she had to make. She was a lost 20-something year old who flung herself on the first plane out of the city and into this island. Everyone at work thought she had a family emergency to deal with, but no, she only had herself. She was too afraid of facing the possibility that the dream she set out for 2 years ago was not the life she wanted to live now. She was depressed. She was hopeless. She was tired. 4 weeks have passed and although not much has changed at work, a lot had changed in her. As soon as she comes home, she knows that she has to make big decisions. She had to decide what would be best for her. Whether it was to stay where she was or to leave for somewhere else, she would make the choice that would make her happy. 

That’s what he said, didn’t he? 

_Make the happier choices. Always._

Jae’s words echoed in her ears like a persistent melody. She would be lying if she dismissed the fact that he was the one who helped her changed her perspective. She had no idea that her Uber driver would make such a big impact on her life and yet he did; this Uber driver slash barista slash bartender slash singer slash guitarist. By practical standards, she seemed to be living the better life: a stable job in the city and a high salary. On the other hand, here he was juggling multiple jobs, booking passengers and gigs by sheer luck. But who was living the happier and fuller life? 

Clearly, not her. 

_Just how many things do you do?_

He laughed at her for asking this question.

_You know, you really should stop having very limiting thoughts. We can be whatever we want to be. I’m an infinite number of things all at once. And you are too._

She learned so much from Jae that she couldn’t have learned from anyone else. The 4 weeks on this island were special because of him. She fell in love with his love for life. She fell in love with his happiness. She fell in love with his talent. She fell in love with his determination. 

She fell in love with him.

In 4 weeks, she fell in love. 

She hated to admit it but she did. She wasn’t the type to get swayed by her emotions so easily in just a short span of time. But she did. And she wanted to believe that so did he. 

But the 4 weeks were over and it was time to leave.

Her flight was in a couple of hours. By nighttime, she would be sleeping in her own bed again in a home that didn’t feel much like a home at all. Next week she’d be back at work, but she’ll be bringing back with her a choice. Here she was now in her hotel room, fixing her luggage. Nearly everything was in its place, but why did it feel like she was missing something? 

What was she looking for? What did she forget?

As she asked herself these questions, her mind couldn’t keep from asking more.

If he told you he loved you, would you tell him the same?

If he asked you to be with him, would you drop everything and stay?

She knew that she had to shut these voices up. They would not get her anywhere. They were nothing but a dream. Like these 4 weeks, they were all but a dream. She wanted to cry but she couldn’t. How can there be any tears when nothing really happened between the two of them? They shared nothing but warm smiles and sincere words. Any of friend of hers would’ve done the same. 

She repeated this to herself over and over, but there was another persistent voice inside of her.

His smiles were as warm as the sun. His words were not just kind, they were genuine and real. He looked at her with a longing she too saw in herself.

It was easier to believe that she imagined everything. She was leaving today after all.

She distracted herself from these thoughts, pacing around the room. She checked every corner and crevice for anything amiss. This was all for naught.

She knew what she was missing. She knew what she had lost.

She was leaving her heart on this island.

This realization dawned on her just as there was a knock on the door. Languidly, she came to answer it. 

Jae.

And just like that, the warmth of the sun touched her cheeks once more.

“Hi.”

“Hi. What are you doing here?” she said, genuinely surprised but pleased.

“Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?”

She forced a smile. 

“Don’t you have work today?”

She remembered seeing him on this same day 4 weeks ago on his shift at the coffee shop. He’d play barista until 5 in the afternoon, then as dawn breaks, he’d make his way to the bar to make cocktails. On band nights, he’d be on stage singing and playing the guitar. The was how his weekdays were. On weekends, he’d drive around as an Uber driver when he had time. 

She remembered the first time they met: he was the driver who picked her up from the airport. She cried on the way to the hotel, heavily dragging along the emotional baggage from work and her quarter life crisis. Through her sniffling and sobbing, he told her that music made him feel better whenever he felt down. He turned on the radio and played good songs to lighten the mood, and they did. As they pulled up to her hotel, her heavy heart was a little less so. 

_If you want to unwind tonight, you should go to this bar. It’s not that far from here. Good drinks, good food, good music. It might help._

How could she have known that this casual invitation from a stranger would change everything?

_I’ll be there._

It was later on in the night that she learned that the songs he played in the car were actually his band’s songs. She saw him on stage with his guitar, happy and free. That person on stage was the real Jae. Everything else--the driver, the barista, the bartender--were masks that allowed him to reveal his true self to the world. 

And here he was in front of her, the truest self he could be.

“This is more important than work.”

She laughed. She was glad that he came to see her, but she was even more sad that she would be leaving. 

“I’ll drop you off at the airport.”

“Thank you.”

He approached the bags behind her, preparing to haul them out. She watched him, volleying what to say next. She did not want to say them at the airport where everything would be too late.

“Jae,” 

He faced her. She closed the distance between them and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. 

Maybe neither of them knew fully, but the world was sure that in their embrace was warmth and longing and love.

“Thank you for everything. I don’t know what I could’ve done if I didn’t meet you. Meeting you was the best thing that could’ve happened to me here.”

He hugged her tighter.

“I don’t think I’ll ever meet anyone like you,” he replied.

The tears that she couldn’t cry were finally showing themselves. She felt them well up on the corners of her eyes.

“How am I supposed to live knowing that, Jae?”

He smiled.

“Happily.”

He belonged here, that much was clear. She, on the other hand, did not yet know where she was bound for. It could be somewhere far. It could be a stone’s throw away. It could be here too. She didn’t know yet. She had to figure it out first. Only then could she consider herself a home to someone else’s heart. She was not yet at the point wherein she could properly take care of someone else. She could barely take care of herself. He knew that. He understood it, and so he didn’t push anything on her in the time they had together. She had to find her own happiness first before she could share it with another person.

His feelings were real and so was hers, but their goodbye was real too. 

“Keep in touch.”

“Always.”

She would leave knowing he was the ray of sunshine in a world that had turned cold and empty. He would stay wishing, knowing she was happier somewhere, wherever it may be.

“I’ll come back. I promise.”

“I’ll be here. I promise.”

And so they would end this day on separate paths, but with the hope that one day in the future they would meet once more. Maybe then her winter had come to pass. Maybe then they could finally be each other’s summer. Maybe then the hands of fate would favor them. Maybe then the love that could not happen now, would. They would part with these maybes, unsure of what the future held, but always, always hopeful.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted this on my Tumblr a year ago but sharing it here! I wrote this in a phase in my life when I was confused with what I was doing and what I wanted to pursue. Each day was difficult and I was desperately looking for genuine happiness. It helped heal my heart back then so I hope it helps heal yours too!


End file.
